INEPTOCRACY
All I could think of was Wow! I have a new word, and I really like it! so I went to my favorite dictionary site, www.onelook.com, and searched for it - found it at Word Spy - dictionary of new words - and this is the definition they give it:

n. A government or state ruled by people who are incompetent. Also: inept-ocracy.Does this describe the state of Washington DC, along with many state/local governments? Its seems the idiots rise to the top - the most ruthless idiots at that. The ones that think they know best how YOU should live, behave, whatever, and want to form you into what they think is best for you. Bloviating Zeppelin (found over on the right-hand side!) has this definition over at his blog: (in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.Which brings us to the vidshizzle of the week: I see commercials for these "obama free phones" on TV.. yep, your tax dollars.. going to spread the wealth some more, take from your pocket to give some fool low-cost text & web on a FREE phone. No one seems to understand that FREE means *someone else* paid for that free thing. I'm tired of people sticking their hands out for something *free*...even if it's just picking up trash, or shredding paper, everyone can do *something* for the money they get.

Monday, September 24, 2012

This is what I made for dinner the other night. Boy, it was tasty! The recipe is for chicken, but I had splurged and bought a box of rabbit. WHY is rabbit 9.00 a lb? I have no idea, except for meat is getting more and more expensive. Even "value beef" at HEB is over $3 a pound. I was going to make shanks, but those were almost $4 a lb.

Use fresh jalapenos. Don't make the mistake I did the first time I read this - I mistook 3 jalapenos, and then I figured, Hey, Let's make it really spicy! and put in 7 minced jalapenos. BIG mistake! 3 tbsp jalapenos is about 1 big jalapeno. If you're feeling in the mood for HEAT, add a second jalapeno.

In a paper or plastic bag, mix 1 tablespoon of cajun seasoning into the flour. Remove excess fat from the chicken pieces and sprinkle the remaining seasoning evenly on the chicken pieces. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour until well coated.

In a large skillet heat ½ inch oil to 350º. Fry chicken (large pieces and skin side down first) until browned and crispy on both sides and meat is cooked, about 5 to 8 minutes per side. Do not crowd. (Maintain temperature as close to 350º as possible, but turn heat down if drippings start getting dark red-brown; don't let them burn.) Drain on paper towels. Carefully pour the hot oil from the skillet into a glass measuring cup, leaving as much sediment in the pan as possible; then return ¼ cup hot oil to the skillet. Turn heat to high. Using a spoon, loosen any particles stuck to the pan bottom and then add the onions, celery and bell peppers; cook until sediment is well mixed into the vegetables, stirring constantly and scraping pan bottom well. Add the tomatoes, jalapeño peppers and garlic; stir well and cook about 2 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the tomato sauce and cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the pepper sauce and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, place the chicken pieces and stock in a 5½ quart saucepan or large Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes. Then stir half the tomato mixture into the stock; cover and simmer over low heat 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining tomato mixture, cover, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve immediately over rice.

This is really good, wehther you use rabbit, chicken, you could use squirrel too, or some other little woodland creature you have :P

Other than being creative with dinners, not a whole lot going on in S. Texas.

I went fishing and crabbing Saturday with a friend, but we caught nothing. There was a couple on the other side of the bridge in the shallows - a crab got hold of her finger, she was jumping around and screaming that a crab had gotten her.. . we laughed quite a bit at that!

It is finally starting to cool off nicely at night here - gets down into the lower 70s, with a lower humidity. Fall is on its way!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

For once, I agree with the ACLU. Why? They've filed a suit against the state of Michigan - over kids not being able to read at grade level, as the state is charged with ensuring. To this, I say a hearty BRAVO! and HUZZAH! I run into kids at church, that are in 4th grade, that cannot read at a 2nd grade level. Much of this, however, I blame on the PARENTS. People don't read to their kids, or teach them anything before they go off to school, and the teachers are put upon to teach the kids even basic things like 'how to squeeze a bottle of glue so the glue will come out" or to hold scissors, or hold a crayon. Our oldest's favorite number is 7. Why does she say it is? Because she had trouble recognizing it when she was little, before school, and so we made that her favorite number. I really don't get the parents that just hand their kid a Nintendo, Wii, an iPhone, or plop them in front of the television, and expect these kids to actually accomplish much of anything. I often get accused of "lazy parenting" because I am a Free-Range parent - meaning, the kids actually have freedom to do stuff, their days are not laid out by me, I don't hover over them - as in doing everything for them. Some people think that Free-range parenting is just totally hands-off, but it's not. It's more of letting kids actually DO stuff, instead of doing everything for them. How will they learn if not actually doing something for themselves? Lenore Skenazy, over at http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/ Free Range Kids
has this blurb along the side of the blog: Do you ever...let your kid ride a bike to the library? Walk to school? Make dinner? Or are you thinking about it? If so, you are raising a Free-Range Kid! Free-Rangers believe in helmets, car seats, seat belts — safety! We just do NOT believe that every time school age kids go outside, they need a security detail. I agree with this. How many of you remember summer days, where you went outside after breakfast, and you didn't show up again till it was time for dinner? Or rode your bike all over the place, going to town, to the little store that sold candy cheap, and eating it all on the way home? Now, parents are the #1 teachers of their children - and too many parents just don't bother to teach the kids anything. Oh - THAT reminds me, I was at the nail salon at our local Wal de Mart on Saturday - a woman was there getting fake nails put on - and she was jabbering away on her phone, her kids were fighting behind her, and whining for a good 30 minutes. Then they noticed the nail art samples (long fake nails glued to a board). They started picking off the nails. Mom noticed nothing, and the owner of the salon, they kept handing him the nails they had picked off. I lowered my voice, put my hands around my mouth, and said loudly "You stop picking those off there, right now!". Kids immediately stopped, mom just looked at them and said "don't do that" and went back to talking on the phone, ignoring her kids again. The owner said thanks to me later for stopping HER kids from tearing up his display. Anyway, the article I was reading, about the ACLU suing Michigan - http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/RighttoReadComplaint(1).pdf">HERE
is the complaint that they filed, in case you'd like to read it.